Separable button



Patented Mar. Z7

(No Model.)-

D. HMPHREYS. 'l

-SBPARABLE BUTTON.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID HUMPHREYS, OF NORFOLK, VIRGNIA.

SEPARABLE BUTTON.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 274,607, dated March 27,1883.

' Application also August 26, issn. (No modei.)

To all whom Iit may concern Be it known that. I, DAVID HUMPHREYs, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Norfolk, in the county ot' Norfolk and State of Virginia, have invented a new and valuable Improvement in Separable Buttons; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making a part of this specification, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon.

Figure l ofthe drawings is a representation of this invention, in perspective, showing the two parts of the button separated. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section through the complete button.

This invention has relation to separable buttous; and it consists in the construction and novel arrangement of a metallic face-plate having attached to its under side a bulging, barrel-shaped, or oval cylinder, formed with one or more longitudinal slits through its entire length, the bulge or swell of said cylinder being nearer the junction of the same with the under side of the face-plate; and, in connection therewith, the invention consists in providing an under plate of dat metal with a bulging, barrelshaped, or oval cylinder of slightly larger dimensionsthan thatot' the faceplate, longitudinally slitted, and having its swell or bulge nearer the open end of the cylinder than to the end which joins the under plate, all as hereinafter set forth.

In the accompanying drawings the letter a designates a face-plate of metal, which may be attached by its outer face to any ornamental setting, or may be itself engraved or otherwise ornamented, as desired. To the under side of this face-plate is attached a cylinder, b, formed with one or more slits, c, extending through its entire length. This cylinder is designed to be made slightly barrel-shaped or oval, as may be desired,l having its bulge or swell d nearer that end of said cylinder which is attached to the face-plate than it is to the open or free end of the same.

The letter e represents an under plate made of metal, and b is a longitudinally-slitted cylinder, which is attached to one of the faces of the under plate. This cylinder is of similar form vto that which is attached to the faceplate, but is slightly larger. It is also barrelshaped or oval, having its swell or bulge d' nearer to its free end than it is to that end which joins the under plate. The slit or slits Y of this cylinder extend through its entire length as indicated at c. The objects sought to be accomplished by the form ot' these cylinders, one of which is designed to be pressed into the other in connecting the two parts of the button, are as follows: First, the form of the cylinders tends to draw and hold the plates when in use as near to each other as the length of the cylinders will permit; secondly, to prevent the under plate with its attached cylinder from falling loose out of the button-hole when the face-plate is withdrawn; and, thirdly, to prevent either thickness ot' the fabric through which the cylinder of the under plate is'passed from moving up beyond the bulge thereof until it is desired to withdraw the same. When these two plates, respectively provided with a cylinder, slitted as described, are to be applied in using the same, the under plate is iirst put under the linen or other fabric and its cylinder passed through the button-holes. The bulge of this cylinder now acts to keep the button-holes in positionH thereon until the faceplate is attached by inserting its cylinder into the cylinder of. the under plate, thereby causing the larger cylinder to expand and the smaller cylinder to diminish in size until the latter has passed its full length into the former, and the plates are brought as near to each other as the length of the cylinders will allow. In this position the bulging portions of the two cylinders are brought .to lit each other, each cylinder adapting itself to the other, so that a close spring-contact is maintained, which effectually prevents their separation otherwise than by design.

These buttons are very strong, and can be cheaply manufactured. They are very simple in construction, and are not liable to wear out or become useless.

Having described this invention, what l claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

A separable button consisting of a face-plate having a barrel-shaped or oval cylinder, b, slitted throughout its entire length, and having its bulge or swell nearer its junction with the In testimony thatl claim the above I- have plate than to its free end, and an under plate. hereunto subscribed my name inthe presence having a similar slitted barrel-shaped or oval of two Witnesses.

cylinder, b', lof slightly larger dimensions, DAVID HUMPHREYS.

5 formed with its bulge or swell nearer the open Witnesses:

end of the cylinder than to that end which W. H. B'ROUGHTON, joins the undell plate, substantially as specified. ARTHUR (l. HUMPHREYS. 

